Hell even Shark Tank millionaires ask about the Tik Tok advertising the suitors are doing. And all those investors are at the age of what I believe most of the people on this board are.

I am within the 21-28 age range and most of the times I don't look at these shops because of the reveal portion. It's something I have never been comfortable doing, at least for me.

@ColoKate63 wrote:

Great point. I do not think that they realize that gig workers doing Uber Eats, Door Dash, etc. are making $25+/hour.

That is a great point. They are making $25 per hour to do multiple deliveries at $4-$7 each. The vast majority of compliance shoppers can do two of these per hour ($24-$30) and in major cities 4+ per hour ($48-$60), with less gas expenses and wear and tear on their vehicle than driving to two separate locations each delivery.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/06/2022 06:21PM by KSSPete.

@KSSPete wrote:

@ColoKate63 wrote:

Great point. I do not think that they realize that gig workers doing Uber Eats, Door Dash, etc. are making $25+/hour.

That is a great point. They are making $25 per hour to do multiple deliveries at $4-$7 each. The vast majority of compliance shoppers can do two of these per hour ($24-$30) and in major cities 4+ per hour ($48-$60), with less gas expenses and wear and tear on their vehicle than driving to two separate locations each delivery.

Ummmm, no. My daughter drives for Uber Eats. She regularly makes $20-30 per delivery as a single tip.

I don’t know where you’re getting your data for “$4-$7 each,” but in a major city it’s completely possible to get $20-$30 per delivery.

Between football games and the 2022 World Cup, she has been crazy busy shuttling food to house parties and workplaces. She can make up to $500 on a busy NFL Sunday afternoon- with no reports, no photos, no hassle from clerks.

KSSPete, your company can’t get compliance shoppers because the pay is abysmally cheap for what you’re asking them to do. $12 per assignment is a joke.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/07/2022 01:49PM by ColoKate63.

@KSSPete @fmitchell I think it is super cool that both of you have come on here to discuss the challenges finding demo specific shoppers for compliance shops. I am sure that there is some art form in coming up with the fee paid to shoppers which is influenced by the slice of the pie (total client is paying per store), depth of work, amount of editing involved, etc.

I think when you tread into the "in a big city one can make $48-$60 per hour doing this" waters, it seems that you are going from trying to sell 21-25 year olds on doing the project to counting other people's money. The $60 an hour is a possibility for some in big cities with stores a mile or so from each other, but I think that is the wrong approach if that is being used to price these jobs. Your tasks just sit there and seemed to never get filled, yet almost all are still priced at $12-$15.

With limited exceptions, I saw some remote age compliant shops that your company offered in November that were paying $35. Are those are coming back this month?

Another company that moves these shops is currently offering $25 to an expanded age group . I've seen them offer as much as $35 and then these shops are gone within a day. Granted they don't have as many shops available as you, nor are they a short drive from each other, but the point is the "kids" are doing these shops. I don't gather that the other mystery shop company cares if the shopper is making $100+ an hour plus doing their shops (I routed it and you could do 4 of their shops in an hour) and they really shouldn't care since it isn't their business. They just want the jobs done.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/07/2022 03:13PM by heywave.

When I was in my 20's, I did a ton of non-reveal compliance shops. Like others have said, $12 is not a lot, especially for a reveal shop. There's apps out there where we can go in a store, take 5 pics and answer 5 questions and make $10, so there's opportunities out there for people to do less work for more money than these shops.

@heywave wrote:

I think when you tread into the "in a big city one can make $48-$60 per hour doing this" waters, it seems that you are going from trying to sell 21-25 year olds on doing the project to counting other people's money. The $60 an hour is a possibility for some in big cities with stores a mile or so from each other, but I think that is the wrong approach if that is being used to price these jobs. Your tasks just sit there and seemed to never get filled, yet almost all are still priced at $12-$15.

With limited exceptions, I saw some remote age compliant shops that your company offered in November that were paying $35. Are those are coming back this month?

I was responding to the comment that said "I do not think that they realize that gig workers doing Uber Eats, Door Dash, etc. are making $25+/hour", not trying to count anyone's money. The point I was making is that they can also make $25+/hour doing these shops.

I haven't seen those $35 ones, but I'm also not the only one that schedules compliance shops for us so it's quite possible they are out there still. Since I haven't seen them, I don't know all the details of them, but I would be shocked if they were anywhere near as quick and easy as the $12-$15 ones though. I completely understand that getting a signature can be intimidating, but it certainly isn't difficult to do and as long as you're not waiting it isn't time consuming either.

My data of $4-$7 per delivery comes from my personal experience trying out Door Dash. I rejected several deliveries at those amounts. I'm not in a major city though, so maybe that's the difference (like it is different with compliance shops between cities and non-cities). Maybe I'll see what Uber Eats is like.

@KSSPete I know that you were replying to someone else about what people can make if they pick up these age compliance jobs compared to the food delivery apps. My point was simply that what someone can make if they do x shops an hour should not be used as a factor in pricing those shops.

I just checked on that $35 age compliance shop that your company had with the November 30 deadline to see if there were any details so I could share and it is no longer listed. All I know is it was not for the major pharmacy retailer that you guys have for $12-$15. It was either an independent or small chain retailer in a rural area.

I think someone on this thread mentioned there was a cap on how many of these shops one can do a month/quarter. Is there/What is the cap for the major pharmacy retailer? If someone hits the cap this month, will it be available to them in January or are they burned from doing it until ________________? If there is a cap, is it per market or per shopper? So if there is a cap, can someone do the max number for Philadelphia and then do the max number for Pittsburgh in the same month?

Thanks

It would nice if the tobacco or grocery store alcohol shops increased the age limit to at least 30. It sucks aging out of those shops because they were great local route fillers. At least theater bar compliance is capped til 32!

When I completed the JUUL shops they paid $15 and bonuses were available and they used to have reimbursements. I miss those! Plus they were easy to self reschedule. They did not involve any reveals and I believe another MSC did JUUL shops for gas stations. I could be reimbursed for cheap snacks.

I feel like there are 3 paths an MSC can take to address this problem.

1. Increase the age limit to have a bigger pool of shoppers that might consider these shops
2. Increase the pay (especially if it’s a reveal)
3. Have a reimbursement

There’s a chain of alcohol/tobacco compliance shops with a reveal that pays either $10 or $12. I did the shop one time since it was nearby. Had to get a mangers signature. Will not pick up that shop again because the pay is low, requires a reveal & signature and there are no reimbursements. That’s three strikes out!

Want more thing I would like to mention that may be steering away shoppers within the age range for these shops.

Does the shop involve a company I already shop for as a customer. For example movie theaters, grocery stores, dispensaries, and liquor chains. The chain I mentioned I do not normally shop at is another strike. The aforementioned places also have reimbursements so it’s a win-win and time saver.

@Luna126 Great points.

Since these sit and go unfilled every month, I have to ask if the MSCs really want these jobs filled. You never see these bonused unless a couple of bucks qualifies. They recently bumped some of these stores to $17, so in the metro area they went from $12-$15 to $12-$17 -- a big $2 bump. These things get bumped as "fast" as Alta 360 ups the pay with their shops.

I know of one MSC that has just a few of these in the area and they start at a low fee and increase the fee as time passes. I've seen them get to $25 and sit and by the time they reach $30/$35 they are gone.

I see the argument of free snacks with the shop, but I think most would just prefer more pay since the snack will be a cash outlay until the MSC pays next month.

It is clear that they have to increase the pay, but for some reason they refuse. You can't lament "where have all the reliable shoppers in this demo gone" and pay jack. We all see MSC paying 5x or 10x of the base rate when the jobs go unfilled and the true deadline is quickly approaching. I recall in October unfilled blue home improvement shops were going for $150 from the $30 base (rural area, in the city the base is $18). As I mentioned before, these age compliant shops used to pay $30 and @KSSPete's company had one last month about 12 miles out from the suburbs that went unfilled for $35.

Thank you for your reply. While I can't get into specifics on pay and why they are what they are, I will say that it all comes down to operational costs like any other business and there are other costs involved than just paying the shopper. I will also say that in order for us to keep our clients happy and with us, we do want to fill the shops, and we most certainly need to. That being said, from what other posters are saying, I will 100% agree that the age demographic, the nature of the project and what it requires with regard to time and money are all valid roadblocks MSPs face. On top of it all, you add the pandemic and how it has changed our outlook, in general, is not helping. Thanks again everyone for your input. This has generated some great conversation and I appreciate your time!

After all the discussion about age compliance shops and the MSCs asking where have all the reliable shoppers gone in this demo, I have to ask where have all the age compliance shops gone? Around the 22nd I saw still saw shops listed that had a deadline of last week, so they had already expired. Then on the 23rd/24th all of those shops completely disappeared. I checked several markets and they are gone.

Honestly? I just aged out. Kids these days would rather go out than party around a collet even if the beer is free

@KSSPete I’d take all of them if they extended to the age of 37

I know this conversation is a little old but I just wanted to mention something that seems vital.

Mystery shopping with the exception of a few companies pays later than most other gig opportunities. I have a friend I encouraged to do a compliance shop that I aged out of. I walked her through the guidelines and helped her to note the information to keep an eye out for. It’s a seriously easy peasy shop that’s not out of the way and very simple report.

However, she’s waiting for the shop to clear payment before she thinks again about picking another shop. The MSC pay is I believe every two weeks. Which is still shorter than the typical 45-60 days other MSC go by. However, compare that to DoorDash, Uber, Amazon that all pay within the week if not same day.